Casper Man Accused of Trying to Take Meth Pipe Into Jail

A man who was arrested Saturday night on a meth-related charge allegedly tried to sneak a meth pipe into the jail.

Dellhue Johnson Jr., 43, is charged with felony counts of methamphetamine possession and taking a controlled substance into a jail.

Charging papers say a police officer was called to The Office at roughly 11:45 p.m. Saturday for a report of a man who was wandering around the parking lot and trying to sell customers something out of a bag.

Officers arrived and found Johnson, whom they reportedly knew from previous encounters, on the east side of the building.

Johnson said he was there because someone bought him a drink. He said he was a freestyle rapper, and had been rapping both in the parking lot and inside the bar. He denied trying to sell anything to anyone.

Johnson allegedly said he last used crack-cocaine three months prior, but otherwise denied drug use. He reportedly told police he was off his medication, was homeless and had not been sleeping much as a result.

According to court documents, Johnson was having major mood swings and would go from being calm to becoming angry, and yelling. When asked by an officer, Johnson said he didn't have anything illegal in his pockets, and reportedly gave police permission to search him.

In Johnson's right rear pocket, police allegedly found a black straw which had a white crystalline residue inside. The officer believed the the substance was methamphetamine residue, and a field test yielded a presumptively positive result for meth.

Johnson was taken to jail, where he told officers he did not have any other drugs on him.

Deputies at the jail needed to strip Johnson before he could be placed in a cell, but Johnson allegedly "made a fuss" about being strip-searched.

When deputies searched him, a small glass pipe allegedly fell to the floor. A test showed the pipe was likely used to smoke methamphetamine.

The police affidavit notes Johnson has previously been convicted of eight drug-related charges, not including other charges and convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia.